Trees and thick underbrush line dirt trails that wind up and down the hillside of Stringer’s Ridge. An opening through the trees on the south side of the hill offer a panoramic view of downtown Chattanooga and the bridges across the Tennessee River.
It feels secluded, yet houses sit only hundreds of yards away, hidden by the thick vegetation and trees.
“I like the idea of preserving this land as a wilderness area,” said Scott Seagle, a Chattanooga resident who hiked through the woods of Stringer’s Ridge on Thursday afternoon.
The Trust for Public Land has been working for almost a year-and-a-half to preserve Stringer’s Ridge as a wilderness park and is now $95,000 away from that goal, said Rick Wood, executive director of the Trust for Public Land.
The trust initially acquired the land for $2.5 million through pledges and commitments, and the Trust now within a stone’s throw of that goal and hopes to have the whole package within three months, Mr. Wood said.